We moved into our house a month ago and everyday so far I have felt overwhelmed with gratitude everytime I’ve walked out the front door and again, each time I’ve walked in.

Home has been the subject of much review for us this year. We live in an inner urban area, rich with diversity, plenty of lesbian parented families and it’s accessible to everything we could possibly need. We adore our suburb. Our close friends all live within a 5km radius and it takes us 15 minutes on the tram to get to the city centre (or 5 minutes in the car when there is no traffic). We have lived in this area for many years. Long before we were a couple, we independently moved in as poor students – back in the day when a room in a terrace house only cost $50 a week. These days, the same room is likely to cost $150 and no doubt the damp carpet and mouldy walls have only gotten worse.

As happens with inner city locales everywhere, eventually, people catch on. Earlier this year, our landlord caught on too and raised our rent by 30%. Gentrification is sweeping through our little migrant, student, hippie village. We mightn’t have minded the rise so much if the landlord had shown any commitment to maintaining the house, but as it was, it was falling down. The floors needed replacing, the walls needed plastering and the kitchen left a hell of a lot to be desired. We simply weren’t prepared to pay that much extra rent for a sh*thole. And so we made the decision to move.

Problem was, rental properties are scarce at the moment and ours wasn’t the only house with a ridiculous rent rise. To cut a long story short, we pained over what to do about our housing situation. We toyed with buying a place (with HUGE help from my Mum) but it wasn’t realistic, nor what we really wanted. We even talked {seriously} about moving to the suburbs where we could afford a great house with plenty of space for lots of kiddos. But, after months of painful looking and pondering we have found ourselves 500 metres from our old house – same suburb, 70% more rent than we were previously paying and 100% better house. And we couldn’t be happier!

For us, the financial sacrifice to remain in our urban village is nothing compared to the benefits of living here. I can’t wait to have kids here!!